Legal information

Many people think that administrative review is only a matter between the applicant and the administrative agency that made the administrative action, and has nothing to do with other people. In fact, the effects of administrative actions are often not limited to the direct recipients, but may also affect surrounding neighbors, competitors, and even unspecified members of the public. Lawyer Ying Ting looked through the relevant regulations. The new regulations have made great progress on this issue. Let’s talk about it in detail.

What is an interested party?

An interested party, simply put, means that although the administrative action is not directly directed against him, the results of this administrative action will affect his legitimate rights and interests. For example, if the neighbor next door built an illegal building, the urban management department made a decision to demolish it within a time limit. The administrative counterpart of this decision is the neighbor who built the house, but you who live next to it will also be affected - the illegal building blocks your lighting, ventilation, and even the ventilation of your house. At this time, although you are not a direct party to the decision, you have neighboring rights. If you believe that this administrative action has infringed on your legitimate rights and interests, you can apply for administrative review as an interested party.

Under what circumstances are there interested parties?

Common types of stakeholders include the following categories: First,neighbor rights holder. In the example we just gave, people whose lighting rights, ventilation rights, and passage rights are affected by administrative actions. Second, fair competition rights holders. For example, if a competitor is dissatisfied with the decision of an administrative agency to grant an administrative license or subsidy to a certain enterprise and believes that the decision is unfair and harms its competitive position, then it can also apply for administrative review as an interested party. Third, the public related to environmental protection. After certain construction projects are approved, surrounding residents believe that the approval will damage environmental quality, and they can also seek administrative review to safeguard their rights and interests. Fourth, a third person subject to additional restrictions. For example, if conditions are attached to a license and the conditions affect the interests of a third party, the third party can also participate.

Methods of stakeholder consultation

The new regulations provide two paths for interested parties to participate in administrative review: one is to actively apply for administrative review, and those who believe that administrative actions have infringed on their legitimate rights and interests can apply in their own names; the other is to passively participate. If the review agency believes that the outcome of a certain case has a significant interest in a person during the trial, it can notify him or her to participate in the review as a third party. Both methods have their own merits. The former gives full play to the initiative of the stakeholders, while the latter gives full play to the initiative of the review agency to ensure that important interests are not missed.

What should we pay attention to in practice?

For interested parties, there are two issues that require special attention: First, pay attention to the time limit for reconsideration applications. The statute of limitations for an interested party's application is also 60 days from the date when he knew or should have known about the administrative action. He cannot relax his vigilance just because he is not a direct party. Second, you must prove that you have a legal interest in the administrative act being sued. For example, if neighboring rights are infringed, relevant property rights certificates and infringement facts must be provided; if competition rights are damaged, one must be able to explain its competitive position and specific loss of interests. If there is no stake, just slogans, the review authority will not support it.

[Lawyer Yingting’s conclusion]

In general, the improvement of the stakeholder consultation system is an important step taken by the new regulations in expanding the coverage of administrative relief. It tells us that administrative review is not only a one-way relief for "people to sue officials", but also a platform for multi-party participation and balanced interests. For those whose surrounding rights and interests are affected by administrative actions, this path is feasible. The key is to prove the existence of interests.